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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bass · content · scale · pitch · prune · cold · foot · march

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. march — the month
  5. foot — a measure
  6. march — the month
  7. content — the amount
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. pitch — completely
  10. scale — in music
  11. bass — the fish
  12. prune — to trim
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. cold — an illness
  15. prune — to trim
  16. bass — low music
  17. cold — not warm
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. scale — size or range
  22. content — happy
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. march — music

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com